Christmas Through The Ages
by hxchick
Summary: Join Dave and his daughter as they celebrate Christmas throughout the years.
1. Chapter 1

_Christmas Throughout The Ages-Chapter 1_

**~This story isn't going to be too long, just nine or ten chapters. Enjoy!**

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_2 months old..._

It was one in the morning on Christmas Eve and David Rossi was exhausted; all he could think about was getting home to his brand new bottle of twenty year old scotch, courtesy of Jason Gideon. As he signed his name to the last piece of paperwork, he was dreaming of how smoothly the scotch would go down. He had all of Christmas Eve day to himself, since he wasn't required to be at his parent's house until Christmas morning, and he planned to use the time to unwind from the horrific case he had just helped solve.

In the small town of Magdalena, a guy dressed as Santa Claus had been breaking into homes and kidnapping young children while the families slept. He kept the kids for a day and did unspeakable things to them before killing them and dropping the bodies down the chimneys of their own homes. To say the parents of the victims had been inconsolable was an understatement, and the demented Santa had killed six kids before Dave and the local LEO's had apprehended him. For Dave, it was one of those cases that was fueling his desire to take early retirement.

He was pulled from his thoughts when the front door to the small police station opened. He watched as a young girl, no more than sixteen years old, walked in carrying a blanket wrapped baby. The mother was thin and her pale skin had a bluish tinge from the cold but, from what he could see, the baby looked healthy. Since no one else was around, he stepped up to the front desk.

"Can I help you?" He asked.

"I…I can't take care of her anymore," the teen said sadly as she handed the baby to him. "It's just…it's just too much."

"Hang on," Dave started, but the girl backed away from the desk.

"My mom told me about the Safe Haven law; she said I could drop her off at any police station without getting into trouble."

"Yeah, but-"

"Well that's what I'm doing," the girl said as tears coursed down her face. "I love her but I can't give her any kind of decent life…she deserves better." The teen took a deep breath and handed a plastic grocery bag across the desk. "Here, I put a can of her formula in there, along with a couple of diapers and some onesies. Oh, and her favorite toy is in there; make sure that whoever takes her keeps that toy near her, or else she'll never fall asleep."

"Don't you want to talk to someone before you do this?" Dave asked as he glanced down at the sleeping baby. "I can arrange for-"

"No! I just want to give her up! You don't understand; my parents don't want her in the house, my boyfriend doesn't want to help take care of her and I can't do it by myself. With me, she'll grow up unloved by the rest of our family but she might have a chance with someone else." In the distance a car horn honked. "That's my boyfriend, I've gotta go."

The girl turned to leave and was almost at the door when Dave called out a question. "What's her name?"

"Whatever you want it to be," she replied as she opened the door. "She was born on October 19th of this year." And with that, the girl walked out into the night and out of her daughter's life forever.

As Dave watched the teenager leave, the baby began to stir in his arms. "Shhhh," he soothed. "It'll be alright." He looked down at the small baby and lost himself in her bright blue eyes. As he bounced her lightly, she gripped his finger and fell back to sleep. He held her for a little while longer before calling CPS.

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Two hours later, a social worker had arrived and was drinking a cup of coffee in the break room before taking custody of the abandoned baby. Dave continued to hold her as she slept.

"So what'll happen to her?" He asked quietly.

The social worker sighed. "Who knows? She'll probably either end up in a state-run facility or an overcrowded foster home."

"What?" He exclaimed and his loud voice startled the baby. She began to fuss, but Dave soothed her by rubbing circles on her back. "I thought there were waiting lists for baby adoptions?"

"In most places there are," the social worker agreed as she poured herself another cup of coffee. "But you're in New Mexico; we're one of the poorest states in the nation and this is one of the poorest counties in the state. There's not much demand for babies here, especially ones as white as this one." Dave gave her a look, so the social worker explained. "We have a large Hispanic population and, like most people, they prefer to have children that look like them so we have a much harder time placing white babies."

He shook his head and stared at the infant for a moment. "What about me? What if I take her?"

"What do you mean?" The social worker asked, confused by the turn the conversation had taken.

"I don't want her bouncing around from one foster home to another or, God forbid, being raised in a modern day orphanage, so I'll take her."

"Agent Rossi, do you know how to take care of a baby? Of a young child? What happens when this little baby girl turns into a teenager; do you know how you'll handle her then?" The social worker asked, somewhat amused by the profiler's offer but she was also mulling it over in her mind.

Rossi shrugged, "No, but I have a mother who would love nothing more than to show me how to take care of a child. I also have more brothers and sisters than I can count and each of them have kids. Plus, have a steady job and a decent income, so I'll be able to provide for her." He could tell that the woman was weighing the pros and cons to his offer in her head, so he continued. "I also have extensive background checks and psychological assessments performed regularly as part of my employment and I have been deemed fit after each one."

"I don't know," the woman murmured.

"Living with me _has _to be better than the alternative for her, right?" Dave asked softly as he stared down at the baby whom he'd already fallen in love with.

"You're right," she said as she stood up to leave. "You can keep her for the night and I'll see what kind of strings I can pull so you can leave with her tomorrow, but I can't promise anything."

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Eighteen hours later, Dave was waiting to board his plane in a small airport terminal. Not only did he have his carry on luggage, but he also had his brand-new daughter in his arms…well, technically she was his foster daughter, since there was a waiting period before he could outright adopt her, but he had thought of her as his daughter for the past seventeen hours.

After he'd left the police precinct the previous night, he'd gone to an all-night Wal-Mart and had purchased the basics for the baby. Basic items such as more diapers, a car seat, a jacket, a pacifier, bottles and a ton of other things. As a result, he felt fully prepared to take a cross-country flight with the infant. But as he sat in the uncomfortable chairs, doubts began to creep into his mind.

What the hell had he been thinking? He wasn't father material; hell, he could barely remember to water his plants in the summer, how in the hell was he going to take care of a living, breathing person? And _how _was he going to support her? He barely made enough to cover his own living expenses, and now he was adding another person to the equation? Another person who was going to need food, water, schooling, medicine, clothes and hundreds of other things? Not to mention that he didn't know the first thing about actually raising a child! He was about to call the social worker to tell her he'd made a horrible mistake, when the baby, who had been sleeping in his arms, opened her brilliant blue eyes and smiled at him. It was then that he was reminded why he was doing all of this and it calmed him down.

"Oh, what an adorable little baby!" An older woman remarked as she sat down next to him. "How old is she?" The woman could tell the baby was a girl by the pink onesie she was wearing.

Dave quickly did the math in his head. "She's two months old."

"And what's her name?" She asked as she played with the baby's finger.

What _was _her name? The girl's mother never told him; in fact she said to name her whatever he wanted to. He looked down at the baby and quickly racked his brain to think of a name when one finally came to him.

"Salvatoria," he said. "She's named after my father but I call her Sally." And in that one brief moment, he'd given his soon-to-be daughter a name that seemed to suit her perfectly.

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The next day was Christmas Day and, like most fathers, Dave was up early but he wasn't watching his child open her gifts. No, his brand-new daughter had decided to wake him up by screaming at the top of her lungs at three in the morning. After he tried everything from a bottle, to a diaper change, to singing and dancing around the nursery, he had finally conceded defeat and had taken her into the living room of his small apartment. Once there, he had plugged in the Christmas tree lights and she had become transfixed by them. Happy that she was finally quiet, Dave lay down on the sofa and held her against his chest. It was during the moment of calmness where he'd had his first serious discussion with the girl.

He told her all of his hopes and dreams for her, he revealed his fears about being a father, namely that he wouldn't be a good one, and he promised her that he would always be there for her. As she had fallen asleep, he'd watched the sunrise and he realized what he had been missing in his life.

He was just starting to doze when the loud ringing of a telephone woke him up. Glancing at his daughter as he answered the phone, he prayed she would stay asleep. God was listening to him that morning and he breathed a sigh of relief as she stirred and then fell back to sleep.

"Hello?" He said softly. He knew only someone from work or his mother would call him that early in the morning.

"Davie? You are back in town?" His mother said happily. She liked having all of her children together during the holidays and she had been worried that his latest case would keep him away from the festivities.

"Yeah, I'm home ma, but I'm not going to be able to make it for Christmas today."

"Why not?" His mother demanded. "Why is it so hard for you to attend family functions? You live less than five miles from me, so why can't you ever come for Sunday dinner, or Thanksgiving, or Christmas?"

"Ma, I promise I'll see you soon, I just have a few things to take care of today," he told her as he mentally planned the day with his daughter.

"But Davie, we have presents for you," his mother said, trying to entice him into coming for a little while. Unfortunately for her, it didn't work.

"Trust me, ma," he said as he looked tenderly at the baby lying on his chest, "I've already gotten the best gift of all."


	2. Chapter 2

_Christmas Throughout The Ages-Chapter 2_

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_1 year old...  
_

As David Rossi tried to pack an overnight bag for his fourteen month old daughter, he felt a tug on his pant leg. He looked down and found her staring up at him with an expectant look on her face. As soon as he made eye contact with her, she gave him her puppy dog eyes and reached up for him.

"Not now, sweetie, daddy is trying to pack for both of us." He felt like a monster for not picking her up, but it really _was_ imperative that they arrive at his mother's house on time.

The little girl made whining noise and raised her arms up at him again. "Sally, no; we've got to be at Nonna's by five tonight for dinner. If we're late, Nonna's not going to be very happy." At the word 'happy,' Sally gave her dad a beaming smile and he almost relented and picked her up, but then he remembered when he was late for Easter dinner earlier that year and he decided to focus on the packing; he did _not _want to have another run in with his mother's wooden spoon…his skull couldn't take it and being late on Christmas Eve would definitely warrant a good crack upside the head.

"Here, take your doll." He handed her a Cinderella doll and watched as she toddled off to the corner of her room where the rest of her toys were. At fourteen months of age, Sally Rossi was running around the house with reckless abandon, but she wasn't yet speaking. Dave was worried about her development, but all of the experts he'd consulted told him it was perfectly normal for her delayed speech and that he should just be patient and wait for her to begin talking. Most of his friends who had children told him to enjoy the silence while he could, because once she started talking, there would be no quieting her down.

He finally got her pajamas and teddy bear packed, so he zipped up the bag, hefted it onto his shoulder and picked her up with his other arm. She gave him a big grin as they walked down the stairs but started fussing once he set her down in the living room. "Daddy has to check the mail," he explained and got an angry huff in return. Hiding a smile at her typical Rossi reaction, he picked the mail up from the floor under the slot.

"Bills, bills, advertisement," he muttered under his breath. "Christmas card, bill…what's this?" He wondered to himself as he opened the official looking envelope. His face broke into a wide smile when he read the letter that told him his adoption of Salvatoria Ann Rossi was now official and the rest of the documentation would follow after the holidays.

As he re-read the letter, his eyes filled with tears; she was finally officially his. Sure, most people had to wait longer than a year for a complete adoption but thankfully his lawyer, who was also one of his closest friends, had more than a few judges and social workers who owed him favors and he'd called them in, in order to expedite the adoption process. Suddenly, all of the interviews, home visits, court dates and hoops he'd had to jump through seemed like distant memories.

His attention was pulled away from the piece of mail by his daughter tugging on his pant leg yet again. He looked down and saw that she was once again reaching up for him.

"Da-da?" She said as she wiggled her fingers at him. His breath caught in his throat as he picked her up and held her in his arms. "Da-da," she repeated as she rested her head in the crook of his neck.

"That's right, honey, I'm da-da," he said in a voice that was thick with unshed tears. Not only had her adoption become official, but she'd said her first word and it had been da-da. It wasn't officially Christmas yet, but it was already going down in his books as the best one ever. "I'm da-da, now and forever."


	3. Chapter 3

_Christmas Throughout The Ages-Chapter 4_

**~Be sure to check out the newest challenge at the Chit Chat on Author's Corner Forum...the Vacation challenge!**

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_5 years old..._

As soon as the final note of the closing song had been sung, five year old Sally Rossi ran from the choir area and found her family talking to father Jimmy.

"Daddy, did you hear me? Did you?" She asked as she ran toward him.

Dave smiled as he caught the little girl in his arms and lifted her onto his hip. "I sure did, Peanut!" He said enthusiastically. "You were the best one up there!" Now, he knew that most parents thought their kid was the best at everything, even if they were untalented, but he honestly believed that his daughter had been the most talented singer in the children's choir at the Christmas Eve mass.

"You were also the prettiest one in the group," his mother told her as Dave set the five year-old on the ground.

"Thanks Nonna, I love my dress!" The youngest Rossi twirled in a circle so that everyone could see the pretty red dress her nonna had made her. Along with the dress, she was also wearing matching red tights and black patent leather Mary Jane shoes. All in all, she would have looked like something out of a children's clothing catalog if it weren't for her hair. Sally had a beautiful head of light brown hair but, unfortunately for her, Dave couldn't style it to save his life. He'd tried braids, pigtails, pony tails, curls…just about everything short of shaving her head, but no matter how hard he tried, the styling always looked a bit off. Pair that with Sally's propensity to jump, swing, run, and tackle and the result was a head of hair that perpetually looked like a bird's nest.

"I still can't believe you aren't staying over at the house tonight," his mother sniffed, trying to pull a guilt trip on him.

"Ma, your house is going to be filled to the gills with my siblings and their children. I live ten minutes away from you and would much prefer to sleep in my own, comfortable bed rather than on the floor in a jam-packed guest room."

"We _have_ to stay at our house," Sally added forcefully. "Otherwise Santa won't know where to find me."

"Santa always knows where to find you, sweetheart; he watches over you all year long." Dave's mom told her and was surprised when she saw the little girl's eyes widen.

"Is he like the bad man on TV who was following that lady around?" She asked her dad. "You know, on that show with all of the letters?"

"CSI?" Jimmy asked as he quirked an eyebrow at his best friend. Even though Dave lived the kind of life seen on television, he was addicted to the procedural shows.

The five year-old nodded as Dave's mother exploded. "You let her watch CSI with you?" She screeched. "No wonder why Sesame Street won't hold her attention when she's at my house!" Even though Dave had taken early retirement from the BAU shortly after he had adopted Sally, he'd written two successful books and did private consultations, which kept him pretty busy during the day. As a result, Sally's grandmother watched her three afternoons per week while Dave worked.

"I don't _let_ her, but sometimes she wanders in while I'm watching," he explained and then shivered under the evil eye his mother was giving him. "Fine, I'll make sure she doesn't catch any more episodes."

"See that you do," his mother said, barely resisting the urge to slap him in the back of his head; if they hadn't been in the Lord's house, she would have.

Now Dave needed to explain to his daughter that Santa Claus wasn't some deranged stalker. He knelt down on one knee so he was at her level. "Honey, Santa isn't a bad man, he's magical and he watches over you in a good way."

"Like Jesus?" Sally asked innocently.

Father Jimmy groaned as he imagined the religious lessons the little girl was receiving from her father and he vowed to spend more time with her, if only to explain the difference between their Lord and Savior and a fictional man who delivered gifts using flying reindeer.

Santa is kind of different from Jesus," Dave told her before he cleared his throat and changed the subject. "Anyway,I think it's time for certain little girls to be in bed, especially if they want Santa to visit them tonight."

"I'm not a little girl, daddy!" Sally protested with a pout as she stomped her tiny foot. "I'm a big girl!"

"Sorry Peanut, I forget sometimes," he said as he once again picked her up and rested her on his hip. As they made their way to his car, he mentally planned a night of early bedtimes, scotch and classic Christmas movies on the television.

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"Daddy! Daddy!" Sally exclaimed loudly as she shook her father awake. "Santa came!"

"Mmmm, Sally honey, can't we sleep a little longer?" Dave asked as he opened his eyes in the dark room. "What time is it?"

"The little hand is on the six and the big hand is on the two," she said. "Come _on_ daddy, we gotta go downstairs!"

"Ungghhhh," he groaned as he flopped back down onto his pillow; he'd been up until two-thirty in the morning putting toys together for her. He didn't know when a degree in engineering had become necessary to assemble a doll crib, but it had and it had taken him forever to figure the damn thing out. Hell, he'd put together his daughter's crib just fine, but the doll crib had had about fifty more parts. Next year, he was going to recruit the genius that his friend Aaron constantly talked about. If the kid really did have three PhD's, he _might _just be able to assemble his daughter's toys. Maybe.

"Daddy," the five year old began in a stern voice, a voice that sounded very much like his mother's. "It's Christmas, we should be opening presents!"

"Oh we should, should we?" He asked as he pulled her onto the bed and began tickling her. "How about some tickles for Christmas?"

"Da-daddy! Stoooooppppp! I'm going to go potty in my pants!" Sally yelled through her laughter. Dave, knowing that was not an idle threat, took his hands off of her ribs and hugged her to him instead.

"You okay, Peanut? No accidents?"

"Nope, I'm fine," she said as she hopped off of his lap. "Come ON!"

He let her pull him out of his warm bed and drag him down the stairs. Once they hit the living room, she just stood there in breathless delight.

"Oh my gosh Daddy," she whispered in awe. "He brought me my playhouse! He brought me my playhouse, daddy!" She dropped his hand and dashed toward the playhouse that had been set up in the corner of the room. In it she found even more presents.

"Look, more presents!" Dave helped her carry them out to the middle of the room and then let her go nuts ripping into the packages. Along with the playhouse, there was the god awful doll crib, a few new dolls to go in it, some dresses for her, and some educational toys. By the time she was done opening all of the gifts, both of them were exhausted.

As she sat in her father's lap, Sally Rossi watched the Disney Christmas Day Parade and waved to all of her favorite princesses. The parade had almost ended when she suddenly sat up straight and exclaimed, "Oh, I almost forgot!" She jumped off of Dave's lap and ran toward the stairs.

"What did you forget?" He asked.

"Your Christmas present!" With that, he heard her moving around in her bedroom overhead and then she tore back down the stairs and handed him a flat package.

"What's this?" He asked as he stared at it; he'd never received a birthday or Christmas present from her before and he was touched just by the fact that she had done something for him.

"You have to open it to find out!" She exclaimed in exasperation; didn't he know how Christmas worked?

Dave carefully tore off the wrapping paper and was left holding a file folder. He opened it up and found a drawing made by his daughter inside of it. "It's beautiful, honey," he said as he pulled her into a hug.

"It's me and you," she told him as she wriggled out of the hug and pointed to various people in the drawing. "And there's Nonna and Aunt Cindy and Uncle Steve. And you can see our house!"

"I see it, Peanut, and I love it. We'll have to go out tomorrow to get a frame for it."

"Really?" She asked. "You really like it?"

"It's one of the best gifts I've ever received, besides you, of course," he said as he kissed her forehead. "And I'm going to hang this on my wall at work." The little girl beamed with happiness and Dave, once again, realized just how lucky he was that she had come into his life.


	4. Chapter 4

_Christmas Throughout The Ages-Chapter 4_

**~Thanks for all of the reviews, they make me smile!**

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_10 years old..._

"Do you want to watch _It's a Wonderful Life_?" Sally's grandmother, Rita Rossi asked her as they settled onto the sofa. It was ten o'clock on Christmas Eve and they were waiting for Dave to return from an out of town case. For the first time in decades, the house was empty on Christmas Eve since all of Dave's brothers and sisters were spending the holiday with their spouse's families. Even Sally and Dave wouldn't be there the following day as Dave had just bought a lavish cabin in the woods and he was taking his daughter there for a low-key holiday, if he made it home before then. Thankfully, one of Dave's sisters and her family would be back the next day and they would celebrate with their mother, so she wouldn't be alone.

"Whatever," the girl said without much enthusiasm as she stared at the carpet.

"If you don't want to watch that, we could watch something newer. How about _A Christmas Story_?"

"I hate that movie," Sally said as a touch of annoyance entered her voice.

"Okay," Rita said, "_While You Were Sleeping _is on; should we watch that?"

"God Nonna, I don't care!" The ten year-old finally snapped, still looking at the floor. "Just pick something and I'll watch it!"

The older woman narrowed her eyes at the girl. "I don't know what has gotten into you tonight, young lady, but you know better than to speak to me like that. I understand you're upset, but that does _not_ give you the right to be rude, understand?"

"I understand, Nonna and I'm sorry," Sally said, looking up at her. The elder Rossi woman's ire melted when she saw the tears standing in her granddaughter's eyes and she gathered her up into a hug. "He didn't make it for Christmas Eve," the girl whispered as the tears that had been threatening all night finally spilled over.

"I know," Rita soothed, "But he was working on a really difficult case."

"But…but he missed my birthday this year too; what if he doesn't make it home tonight? What if he misses Christmas?" Sally cried.

"I talked to your dad, sweetie, and he was going to try his very best to make it home for Christmas, even if he has to fight mother nature to do it." Dave and the team had finished a case in Idaho, but a winter snowstorm had threatened their return home for the holiday.

"I know," Sally said softly, "I just wish he didn't have to work so much."

"Honey, your dad is the type of person who always has to be busy. He loves you so much, but now that he's written some books, he needs to go back to what he knows, and he knows criminals." Even while she was defending her son to her granddaughter, Rita Rossi wanted to find him and shake him senseless. What she'd said to Sally was true, her son really _was _the type of person who needed to work in order to stay sane, but he did not have to work so much; he didn't have to focus so much on his work that he missed the important times in his daughter's life and she planned on reminding him of that.

Little did Rita know that her son had arrived at her house and had been standing in the doorway to the living room, out of sight from the two of them, and he had heard their exchange. While he'd known his return to work would be hard on his daughter, he didn't think it would be this difficult for her although, to be fair, he had been working a TON of hours since re-joining the BAU. The hell of it was, he hadn't missed her birthday due to a BAU case; no, he had been finishing a private consultation before returning to the Bureau and the consultation had been more difficult than he had anticipated. Now that he was back at the BAU, he was struggling to balance his workload with his personal life and he knew his daughter was being short-changed in the process. What he heard next nearly broke his heart.

"I know he needs to chase the bad guys; he's like a superhero and that's awesome, but I really miss him when he's gone."

"Well, it's a good thing I'm home then," he said from behind them. He watched as she tore away from her grandmother and ran into his arms.

"Daddy! You made it back for Christmas!"

"I sure did, Peanut," he said as he kissed her on the temple. "I wouldn't miss spending Christmas with you for anything. How about you go upstairs and get your things and we'll head to the new cabin?" The ten year old nodded and ran up the stairs while Dave made his way further into the living room.

"Davie," his mother said as she stood up from the sofa. "I'm glad you got back in time to spend Christmas with your daughter; she needs it."

"I know," he said with a sigh. "Ma, look-"

"No Davie," she said with a shake of her head. "I know you and I know you need to work, but this is ridiculous. As much as I love having her here, my granddaughter shouldn't practically be living here, not when she has a father who loves her and cares about her as much as you do."

"I just need to get back into the swing of things at the BAU-" he tried defending himself, but his mother would have none of it.

"You have been back at the Bureau for just under two months and your daughter has already stayed with me for thirty-eight nights. Thirty-eight, David! When she talks about home, she means this house, not the one the both of you share!" Rita Rossi took a deep breath in order to calm herself and then kept going. "I know your breakup with Gina has been painful for you, but you can't let it consume you. You did this years ago; remember when you and Carolyn decided to divorce? I barely saw you during the next two years because you worked so much, but you can't do that now, son; you have a daughter who loves you and needs you."

His mother was referring to his recent second ex-wife. He thought he'd finally found someone to spend the rest of his life with, but it turned out she was only interested in the new income he had from his books. They had spent three years together before he had finally put his foot down in regards to her spending habits and she'd filed for divorce the next day.

"Do you know she was horrible to Sally when you weren't around?" His mother asked and Dave felt his heart stop beating.

"What do you mean? Did she hurt her?" God help her if she had because three years of happiness wouldn't mean shit to him if Gina had physically harmed his daughter.

"No, but she made nasty comments about her looks and her friends. She also told Sally that you didn't love her as much anymore since he was married. Pair those words with your sudden workaholism and you have one very insecure ten year-old."

"I'm going to kill that bitch," Dave said as he mentally planned his ex-wife's demise. Nobody, and he meant _nobody _came between him and his daughter.

"No, you're not Davie, you're going to spend time with your daughter and you're going to figure out how to balance your work and home life a bit better. Like I said, I love my granddaughter but she shouldn't be spending this much time with me."

Dave thought for a moment, "Can I at least have the tech analyst on my team ruin Gina's life electronically?"

Rita thought for a moment. "That I'll allow."

"Thanks ma, for everything but especially for telling me about what Gina said to Sally. I'll talk to Aaron and somehow I'll cut down on my travel time with the team, even if it means I go back into retirement."

"And you'll talk to Sally about what Gina said?"

"Definitely," Dave said firmly.

"Good, and she's going to love your Christmas present," Rita told him with a smile. "Do you have it all set up?"

Dave nodded, "It'll get to the cabin at around one o'clock tomorrow. Are you sure _you're _okay with it? You're going to have to deal with it too."

His mother shrugged, "If you can handle it, I can handle it." She stopped talking at that point because Sally came back into the room, rolling her suitcase behind her.

"Do you have clean clothes for tomorrow?" He asked and she nodded. "Good, let's hit the road for the cabin." He took the suitcase handle from her in one hand, and her hand in the other and led her out the front door.

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"It's so quiet out here," Sally remarked the next day as she and Dave walked through the woods that surrounded his new cabin. She was glad the cabin was big enough so she could have her own bedroom and bathroom, and that it had a huge great room with a gigantic Christmas tree. She knew they would never live there full time, since it was too far from the city, but it would make a nice place to come on weekends.

"It really is," Dave agreed as their boots crunched on the snow. "So did Santa bring you everything you wanted?"

"Daaaaaaad," Sally said as she rolled her eyes. "I know there's no such thing as Santa."

"What do you mean?" He asked, feigning surprise. "Of course there's a Santa! Who else would leave presents for you under the tree?"

"Oh, I don't know, _you_ maybe?"

"Okay, did _I_ give you everything you wanted?" He asked with a laugh.

"Yeah, pretty much," his daughter told him as she tried to catch a falling snowflake on her tongue.

"Hey, you know I love you, right?" He asked as he squeezed her hand.

"Duh, of course I do."

"And you know all of that stuff Gina said to you was BS? Because I never loved her more than I love you."

"I know," she said, but he could hear a hint of uncertainty in her voice.

"Peanut, you will always be the most important person in my life, okay? I know it may not seem like it now, since I've been working so many hours, but you are my number one priority."

"But what if you forget about me," she whispered. "What if you're gone for so long that you forget who I am?"

He stopped and looked right at her. "First of all," he said as tilted her chin up with his fingers. "I could _never _forget you. Ever. Understand?" She nodded. "And second, I'm not going to be working as much anymore."

"Really?"

"Really," he said firmly. "I'm going to ask Hotch if I can stay behind for some of our cases, that way I can work from Quantico and I'll be here for you."

"So I won't have to stay at Nonna's house as much?" Sally asked hopefully. "I love her, but staying with her isn't the same as living in our house."

"Nope, you'll have to put up with your old man again. Think you can handle it?"

The girl pretended to think about it for a moment. "I suppose…if I have to," she said as a smile took over her features.

Dave laughed at her reaction. "Come on, let's get back to the warm cabin before you completely turn blue from the cold."

Soon they were back at the cabin making hot chocolate in the large and modern kitchen. As Dave began to do some prepwork for their Christmas dinner, Sally prepared the hot drink.

"So then Nonna told Aunt Jenny that she needed to-" Sally stopped in the middle of her story when she heard a noise from the bathroom just off of the kitchen. "What was that?"

"I don't know," Dave lied. "Why don't you go check it out?"

Sally followed his suggestion and went to the bathroom door. She cautiously opened it and squealed when a chocolate lab puppy ran out and began running in circles around her. "What's this?"

"Hmmm, it looks like Santa dropped off one more gift while we were gone."

"IS HE FOR ME?" Sally shouted as she knelt on the floor to play with the puppy.

"Yup," her dad told her. "As long as you agree to help feed him and walk him and clean up after him."

"I will! I promise!" She giggled as the dog licked her face.

"Well, what do you want to name him?" Dave asked, thinking she would come up with something like Rex. She surprised him when she stared at the dog for a minute, and then said, "Mudgie."

"What?" Dave asked.

"Mudgie. That's what I want to name him," she said as she cradled him.

"Why Mudgie?" He asked with a laugh.

Sally shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know, he just looks like a Mudgie."

"True," he agreed and then smiled as he watched his daughter interact with the dog. She looked very happy and he knew he'd made the right choice with the dog.

"Hey dad?"

"What honey?"

"This is the best Christmas ever!" She said as she stood up and threw one of her arms around him. "I love you."

"I love you too, Peanut."


	5. Chapter 5

_Christmas Through The Ages_

* * *

"Ave Maria, gratia plena." Sally Rossi stood at the front of the church choir at the Christmas Eve mass and sang the solo in a clear and strong voice and the congregation was hushed as they listened to the girl sing the beautiful song in an amazing singing voice. When she had gotten the solo, many of the teens in the congregation, and more than a few of the adults, grumbled that she had gotten the solo simply because of her family's close relationship with Father Jimmy, but as soon as she had opened her mouth to begin the song, all doubt had been erased from everyone's minds.

"Maria, gratia plena," the teen continued to sing and the Rossi family, who were sitting in the second row, all smiled as they listened to one of their own create such beautiful music. Dave, who was seated between his mother and his favorite brother, was having trouble keeping his tears in check as he listened to his daughter sing. Sure, he knew she could sing; in fact, on Friday and Saturday nights she played guitar and sang at one of the local coffeehouses, but this was different, this song was much more reverent than the usual ones she performed and it touched his soul. As he continued to listen to her, he once again thanked God for bringing her into his life.

He'd known all along that Sally had been a divine miracle; the timing was too great for it to have been anything else. What if he hadn't been assigned the case in New Mexico fifteen years previous? What if he had solved the case earlier? What if he had caught an earlier flight home? What if he hadn't been the one at the front desk that night? There were just too many variables for it to have been anything other than a miracle and it was one that he was ever thankful for as he couldn't bring himself to even imagine his life without her in it.

"Ave, ave dominus," Sally sang and Dave continued to reflect on his relationship with his daughter. She had entered her teen years with a bang and they had been anything but easy, but they were getting through them with a minimum of knock-down drag-out arguments, although one had taken place just a week earlier, and for that, he was grateful. To his utter dismay though, she had outgrown her tomboy ways and now it seemed all she thought about were her friends, makeup and boys. There were nights he had to lock her iPhone in his safe if only to stop her from texting during dinner but, to make up for it, there were times she'd had to drag him out of his office to eat dinner, especially if he was in the middle of a case at work, so it balanced out. All in all, he felt they had a much more open and honest relationship than most fathers and daughters and he encouraged her to ask him questions, which she did. Surprisingly, so far she hadn't had too many questions about her mother.

Dave never hid the fact that she was adopted from her; he had always been very upfront about how she had come into his life. She knew her birth mother had loved her but had been unable to take care of her and she knew it was divine providence that Dave had happened to be the one at the front desk that night. So far she hadn't expressed any interest in finding her mother and Dave hoped that wouldn't change later on in her life. It wasn't that he felt threatened by the birth mother; he just didn't want his daughter to face a possible rejection from the woman.

He was pulled from his reverie by the final note of his daughter's song and then the closing blessing from Father Jimmy. "She's such a good singer," his mother said to him as she got up from the church pew. Dave nodded in agreement as he followed behind her and they made their way to the vestibule so they could chat with the other parishioners while they waited for the teenager.

Sally watched from the choir area as her dad and grandmother left the worship area of the church; she knew she should hurry so she and her dad could get to the cabin before it got really late, as it had become their custom, but she found herself dragging her feet a little bit.

"Hey Rossi," her best friend Sarah called out as she walked toward her. "You wanna go shopping the day after Christmas? Or are you still grounded?"

Sally shook her head, "No, my grounding ended today, so I am free on Wednesday. We'll have to go out later though, since my dad and I usually don't get back to the city until the afternoon."

"That's right; you two are going out to that wooded mansion of his, right?"

"Right," Sally said with a sigh.

"You don't sound too excited about it," her friend remarked.

"I don't know, I usually have fun there but now I'm wondering which one of the lectures my dad will give me during the car ride; the 'you need to try harder in school' talk? The 'your attitude needs to change' lecture? Maybe he'll give me the 'I don't know what's gotten into you lately' speech."

"Hey, it's Christmas; maybe you'll hear all three of them," Sarah said with a laugh.

"Yeah, and then maybe he'll top it all off with his standard 'there _will_ be consequences if things don't change' threat. Let's just say I am _not _looking forward to a day and a half alone with David Rossi and I'm sure the feeling is quite mutual on his part."

What the girls didn't know was that Dave had come looking for his daughter and had overheard their conversation. As he listened, hidden behind a large column, he promised himself that he wouldn't lecture his daughter at all over the next few days; he would keep the conversation light and airy.

"You should just tell him to back off and stay out of your business."

"Oh yeah, it's that easy," Sally agreed sarcastically. "I'm _sure _that wouldn't get me grounded for the next hundred years or so!"

"It would kind of be worth it though, wouldn't it?"

"Nah," Sally said as she draped her choir robe over the back of a chair. "It would probably just add to his list of the ways that I'm a fuckup."

"God Sally!" Her friend exclaimed. "We're in a church!"

"So? Remember when Father Jimmy dropped that chair on his foot and he thought he was alone in the church? Remember all of the four-letter words he used?" Sally reminded her friend.

"True, but it still seems like a first class ticket to hell."

"Hey Peanut, are you ready to go?" Dave asked as he stepped out from behind the column and into sight. "It's starting to snow and I'd like to get to the cabin before the roads get too bad."

"Sure dad, lemme just get my coat on," she said and then rolled her eyes as he picked it up and then held it out she could put it on. "I'll call you when I get back into town on Wednesday," she promised her friend and then she let her dad lead her out of the church.

xxxxxxxxxx

"You have one more present to open," Dave said as he handed his daughter a gift-wrapped envelope the next morning.

The teen took the gift, opened it, and then gasped in surprise. "Really?" She asked as she looked up from the gift certificate.

"Yeah," Dave grumbled good-naturedly. "You finally wore me down." For the last year, Sally had been begging him to let her start using cosmetics, other than the clear lip gloss and pink nail polish he currently allowed, arguing that his ban on them until she turned eighteen was barbaric and unfair. After talking with his mother and sisters, he'd finally changed his mind and the gift certificate he'd given her was for makeover at one of the local day spas. It also included a set of cosmetics from the spa and makeup application lessons.

"Thank you SO much!" She squealed as she threw her arms around him.

"Don't go crazy with the stuff though," he warned her. "You don't need any of it, you're beautiful just the way you are."

She smiled at him, "Thanks dad. Ooooh, there's one more gift for you," she said as she handed him a square box.

"You already gave me a gift," he protested. "I know that new briefcase must have set you back more than a few dollars."

She rolled her eyes, "Would you just open it?"

Dave followed her directions and unwrapped the present. When he saw the CD cases stacked on top of each other, he became confused. Sure, he liked music but he was picky about what he listened to, just like she was. As a result, they rarely bought CD's for each other. "Thanks honey," he said politely as he turned one of the cases over to look at it. "What artist is this?"

"Me," she said shyly and Dave's jaw dropped.

"Are you serious?" He asked in shock. Sally was a great singer, as evidenced by her solo that evening and her performance gig at the coffeehouse, but she didn't have much confidence in her own ability. A few months previous, he'd told her that he would love to have some of her music to listen to while he was on the road, but she'd told him she wasn't good enough to record. A light argument had ensued but she'd made it clear that it would be a cold day in hell before he ever got a recording of her singing. Apparently, she'd changed her mind.

"One of my friends has an aunt who owns a small, indie recording studio in Baltimore. Last Saturday, me and my guitar spent about 6 hours there. I've already transferred all of the songs to your iPod; the CD's are for your car."

"This is…I'm not sure what to say here, Peanut," Dave said as tears pricked his eyes. "This is one of the best gifts I've ever gotten.

"Whatever," she said, waving off his compliment. "Just don't play the songs for anyone else, okay?"

"Are you kidding?" He asked as he pulled her into a hug. "I'm going to play these for _everyone_!"

"Great," Sally muttered, but she said it with a smile so Dave knew she wasn't really upset.

"How about we both get dressed and take our annual Christmas hike through the woods?" He suggested as he released her. The teen nodded and they both made their way to the stairs so they could change into warm clothing.

xxxxxxxxxx

"So did Santa bring you everything you wanted?" Dave asked jokingly as they made their way down to the pond behind the cabin. He asked her that every Christmas and every time she rolled her eyes at him. This year was no exception.

"God dad," she said with the expected eye roll, "Does that ever get old for you?"

"Nope," he said with a grin.

"Yeah, I got everything I wanted this year. Thanks," she said as the got to the frozen pond. "God, I never get tired of this view, especially in winter." Behind the pond, there were rolling hills covered in white snow and the water itself reflected the brilliant blue sky. The two of them stood in silence for a few minutes as they took in the gorgeous scenery.

"Peanut," Dave said and Sally's stomach churned as she wondered which lecture he was about to give her. "I overheard your conversation with Sarah last night."

"Oh?" Sally said, annoyed. "You just happened to 'overhear' it? You weren't eavesdropping as usual?"

"Hey," he said in defense, "The two of you were talking in a public place, so I think that gives me the right to say I 'overheard' it!"

"Whatever," the teen muttered, still pissed that he'd once again intruded on her privacy.

"Anyway, I want you to know that I have never thought of you as a 'fuckup'," he told her. "You're going through a rough time right now, and I get that. Sure, I might lecture at times, but I still think you're a great person and you couldn't be a fuckup if you tried."

"Except when I cook," she said with a smile. "I think nonna lives in a state of denial over my culinary skills."

"Cooking isn't your forte," he agreed with a chuckle. "But thankfully you have numerous aunts who have no problem cooking Christmas Eve dinner."

"It makes sense that I'm the only one who can't cook though," she said as she looked out over the frozen pond. "I mean, I'm not really a Rossi, so-"

"What did you just say?" Dave interrupted. Sally heard the anger in his voice and, as she turned to look at him, she saw he looked incredibly pissed off.

"I…I said I'm not really a Rossi, so it makes sense that I haven't caught on to the art of cooking," she repeated, unsure of what the problem was. She soon found out.

"Salvatoria Ann Rossi, I don't care if you're fifteen years old, if you ever say something like that again, I'll take you over my knee and you won't sit comfortably for a week!" Her father said through clenched teeth.

"Come on dad, it's not a big deal, I mean it's pretty obvious I'm not one of you," she said. "Just look at the family picture we took yesterday; it was like playing that kids game where they have to find 'what doesn't belong.' Everyone has dark hair and Italian features and then there's me, with my light brown hair and glowingly white skin. I stick out like a sore thumb."

"Is that what the hair thing was about?" Dave asked as the situation dawned on him. Two weeks ago, he'd come home from work early and found Sally at the utility room sink getting ready to dye her hair black. A long and loud argument had followed and, as a result, Sally had been grounded until Christmas Eve.

"Yeah," she said. "I just wanted to finally fit in. I mean, I can't cook, I can't speak the language and I sure as hell don't look like any of you, so I thought that if I dyed my hair, I wouldn't stick out so badly."

"For Christ's sake, Sally!" Dave said in frustration. "It doesn't matter that you don't look like us or that you're not technically a blood Rossi, you're still one of us!"

"It might not matter to you, but it does to me!" She shot back. "I want to actually look like your daughter!"

"Peanut, it doesn't matter that you don't look like me, you're my daughter and I couldn't love you more if I tried," he said as he tried to keep the anger and frustration out of his voice.

"So…so you don't regret what you did in New Mexico?" She asked timidly. "You're not sorry that you adopted me?"

"Never." He said in a tone that didn't allow for argument. "I know we haven't been getting along lately, but I've never, for one moment, ever regretted adopting you. Got it?"

"Got it," she said with a smile.

"Good," Dave said. "Now how about we get back to the cabin before we turn into popsicles?" With that, he took her mittened hand in his and led her back to the cabin.


	6. Chapter 6

_Christmas Through the Ages-Chapter 6_

**~Sorry for the delay, the flu hit me hard this year!**

_20 years old..._

"Are you sure you don't want to come back to the house, Davie?" His mother asked as they exited the church after Christmas Eve mass. "I hate to think of you in that big cabin, celebrating Christmas by yourself."

"I won't be alone ma, I'll have Mudgie with me," he told her. 'And Jim beam and Jack Daniels,' he thought, but wisely did not say.

"Davie-" Rita Rossi started, but he wouldn't let her protest any more.

"I'll be fine ma."

"But it's your first Christmas without Sally," she argued. "I don't want you spending the holiday lamenting about how your daughter is growing up."

"I won't; I have movies and football games to watch. I'm sure I won't even notice that she's not there," he lied. Sally Rossi was in the middle of her sophomore year of college at UVA and instead of coming home for her Christmas break, she was in Colorado, skiing with some of her friends. It would be his first Christmas alone since adopting her and he missed her already. The logical side of him knew he shouldn't be pissed about it; it was good she had made friends and it was normal that she wanted to hang out with them but, on the other hand, she couldn't have gone skiing _after _Christmas? She had a month off, so he wished she would have put the trip off for a little while. He didn't tell his mother this, but since he didn't have Sally there, he hadn't bothered putting up a Christmas tree or any decorations.

"Davie, all of your nieces and nephews want to see you, not to mention your siblings!"

"Ma, I just don't want to deal with all of that! I've had a helluva week and I just want to relax," he said, frustrated.

"I don't understand why you don't fully retire," his mother retorted. "A man of your age and means doesn't need to be working, especially at such a dangerous job."

"I want to work," he argued. "I _like _to work." He saw his mother open her mouth to argue and he cut her off before she could say anything. "I've got to get going ma, it's going to start snowing soon and I want to get to the cabin before the roads get too bad."

"Okay Davie," she said with a sigh. "If you change your mind, we're eating at noon tomorrow."

"Thanks ma," he said as he bent down and kissed her cheek. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, son."

xxxxxxxxxx

An hour later, Dave's senses went on alert as he turned off of the highway and onto the long gravel driveway that led to his cabin. The reason he was on alert was because of the tire tracks that led to the cabin. His cabin was well secluded and, while people sometimes used the driveway entrance as a turn around on the highway, few people followed the road up to the house, but someone had that night and fairly recently, since the tracks had yet to be completely covered by the falling snow.

His senses were even more heightened when he pulled up to the cabin and saw lights burning in the windows. "What the hell?" He asked himself as he and the dog got out of the SUV. "Stay here," he commanded a whining Mudgie. While he didn't think a burglar would be stupid enough to turn on almost every light in the place, he wasn't sure what was going on and he didn't need to be distracted by his canine companion.

As he opened the front door, he heard Christmas carols playing on the stereo in the great room and there were some great smells coming from the kitchen; what the hell was going on?

"Dad!" A happy voice exclaimed from the staircase. A moment later, his daughter nearly knocked him over with a ferocious hug.

"Sally!" He said in surprise as he hugged her back. "What are you doing here, Peanut? Shouldn't you be in Telluride skiing with your friends?"

"I was," she said as she pulled out of the embrace, "but it just felt, I don't know…weird being away from here for Christmas; I guess I kinda got homesick." She started to say more, but a large, chocolate lab nearly knocked her over with his greeting. "Mudgie! How are you doing, boy?" She hugged and petted the dog for a minute and then stood up.

"So you came back to spend Christmas with your old man?" Dave asked happily and Sally nodded. "Well I'm glad you decided to come home, I missed you," he said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and walked with her into the kitchen. "Besides, you saved me from spending a lonely Christmas by myself."

"I used the credit card you gave me," she said hesitantly. "I hope that's okay; I had to pay kind of a high fare since it's the holidays and I got the ticket last minute."

"It's _fine _that you used the card," Dave reassured her as he lifted the lid from one of the pots on the stove. "Again, you saved me from a lonely Christmas."

"I'm surprised Emily isn't here," Sally said nonchalantly as she gently swatted her dad's hand away from the saucepan.

Dave stopped what he was doing and just looked at her for a moment. "Why would Emily be here?" He asked cautiously.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because the two of you are madly in love and have been seeing each other for the past six months?" She asked sarcastically, but she wore a grin so her dad wouldn't think she was angry about it.

"You KNOW?" He asked in astonishment; to the best of his knowledge, no one at work knew about his and Emily's apparently not-so-secret relationship but his twenty year old daughter had figured it out?

"Of course I know," she replied calmly as she added some fresh basil to the simmering sauce, knowing her breeziness about the whole thing would drive him nuts. "I'm your daughter; it's my job to know these things." She was finally able to throw some of his words back at him! Throughout her childhood he seemed to know everything she did, sometimes even before she did it, and whenever she asked him how he got his information, he would always tell her, 'I'm your dad; it's my job to know these things.' And it used to drive her insane, but the shoe was finally on the other foot and it felt great.

"How in the hell did you find out about us?" He asked loudly.

Sally rolled her eyes. "Did you forget that I lived here all summer? You and Emily started seeing each other, what? At the beginning of June?"

"June fourth," Dave said, somewhat in a daze. "She was grazed on the side of the head by a bullet and it gave us both the wakeup call we needed. But can we get back to the fact that both Emily and I are surrounded by people who are trained to pick up on every nuance of human behavior and _they_ haven't discovered our relationship yet, but you have? If it wasn't such a soul crushing and dangerous job, I would encourage you to become a profiler."

"What can I say?" Sally asked with a shrug. "I learned from the best."

Dave grinned, "That you did." Then he became serious. "Are you okay with me dating Emily?"

"I'm fine with it," his daughter reassured him as she poured herself a glass of wine from the bottle on the counter. While she was technically underage, Dave didn't have a problem with her drinking wine or beer when they were at the house or the cabin, as long as she didn't drive anywhere for the rest of the night. "I know Emily and I like her; besides, she's _much _better than some of the other women you brought home while I was growing up."

"Don't remind me," he winced as he thought of some of the women he'd known during his lifetime.

"Besides, I hate the idea of you being lonely up here, so I'm glad Emily is in your life as more than a co-worker," Sally told him. "Why isn't she here for Christmas?"

"She has a family function that she couldn't get out of," Dave told her as the oven timer dinged, signifying the readiness of the garlic bread.

"Well I'm sorry she couldn't make it, but I'm kinda glad it's just us," she said with a smile. She gave her dad a quick hug as she passed by him, "Come on, let's eat!"

xxxxxxxxxx

The next morning, the two of them went on their traditional walk in the woods surrounding the cabin.

"So did Santa bring you everything you wanted?" Dave asked teasingly. He had brought her Christmas gifts to the cabin since they had planned on celebrating a late Christmas when she came home on New Year's Eve, so she'd had gifts to open that morning.

"He sure did," Sally responded enthusiastically. "I still can't believe you got me a new guitar!"

"Your old one was looking kind of worn out," Dave told her. "Plus, it's not as if you haven't been hinting for one for the last two years."

"Yeah, but you also got me a new laptop, so I wasn't expecting the guitar. Are you sure it's not too much?" She asked hesitantly. She knew her dad was wealthy, but he was paying for her room, board and tuition at UVA and he had semi-retired from the BAU so she knew he wasn't getting a steady government paycheck; she worried that the gifts he'd given her were too extravagant for his new lifestyle.

"It's fine, Peanut," he said. "I know you worry about me, but even without my check from the FBI, I still get book royalties and I have my pension, not to mention some large investments. Money is not a worry for me, nor should it be for you, okay?" One of the things Dave loved about his daughter was that she hadn't been spoiled by his wealth. She had gone to private schools all of her life and he had seen many spoiled kids demand new cars, trips, money and other things from their parents, but Sally had never done that. Sure, she never had to worry about money growing up, but she had always earned the generous allowance he'd given her. "Besides, I'm hoping you'll record some new CD's for me with that new guitar; I think I wore the last ones out."

"I'll see what I can do," she said with a smile. They walked in silence for awhile, until they reached the frozen pond.

"What's going on in that mind of yours, Peanut?" Dave finally asked as she stared out at the gorgeous view.

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"You've been distracted during our phone calls lately and I can tell by the look on your face that something is bugging you. What gives?"

"Profilers suck," she muttered as she rolled her eyes.

"You're just pissed because you've never been able to get away with anything," he told her. "Now what's up?"

Sally took a deep breath and turned to face him. "I got an email from my biological father a few weeks ago."

"Oh?" Dave asked in what he hoped was an even tone; needless to say, he hadn't been expecting _that _answer at all.

"Yeah, he found me on Facebook and he wants to meet me. He told me it's completely up to me and if I don't want to meet him, he'll leave me alone. He also sent me a medical history for him and all of the stuff he could remember about my biological mother."

"Did your mother also contact you?" If her biological father had found her, it was only a matter of time before he told her how to contact Sally.

"No, she died about ten years ago from a drug overdose," she told him. Dave was amazed and a little worried by the lack of emotion in her voice. "I guess my biological father was also addicted to drugs, but he got clean after she died."

"Are you gong meet him?" As much as he didn't want her to have anything to do with her biological family, Dave knew he couldn't stop her from meeting any of them.

"No," she said firmly. "I don't want to have anything to do with him."

"Sally, you need to think this through. If you're doing this to spare my feelings then you-"

"I'm doing this for me, not for you," she said as emotion finally crept into her voice. "He is _not _my father. He didn't want to have anything to do with me when I was a baby, so why would I want to have anything to do with him now? At best he was a sperm donor, at worst he was a low-life druggie who abandoned my biological mother."

"But-" Dave started to speak and was once again cut off by his daughter.

"_You_ chose me," she said without any doubt in her voice. "_You're _my father. I don't need anyone else."

Dave didn't know what to say. On one hand, he was worried that she would regret her decision later in her life, but on the other hand, he was touched by her words. He finally just pulled her into a bear hug. "I've loved you since the moment I first laid eyes on you, Sally."

"I know, and I love you too; you're the only parent I've ever needed."


End file.
